Duterte fires civil defense deputy chief
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte fired Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Deputy Administrator Kristoffer James Purisima, Malacañang announced on Friday.
In a statement, Palace spokesman Harry Jr. Roque said Purisima had lost the President’s “trust and confidence.”
In an interview with GMA7, Roque did not go into the details of Purisima’s ouster other than to say that Purisima’s office was involved in the government’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
He said Duterte was yet to appoint the replacement for Purisima, who was the spokesman for the Joint Task Force Bangon Marawi before being appointed as OCD deputy chief.
Roque also announced that Duterte had accepted the resignation of Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Rio on January 31 sent a letter
to Duterte, informing the President of his decision to quit his post.
There were reports he resigned because he could not get along with other DICT officials. He declined to comment on the timing of Duterte’s acceptance of his resignation to avoid “disruptive discussions absolutely not needed in the midst of this pandemic crisis.”
“[I would like] to express my utmost gratitude to the President for giving me this chance to serve our country under his administration,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“I wish to express also my full confidence on the leadership of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in handling the Covid-19 crisis,” Rio added.
He was at the helm of major initiatives, including the entry of the third telecommunications player and free Wi-Fi in public places.
He questioned the allocation of P300 million for the department’s confidential funds, saying the DICT did not need a budget for intelligence activities.
Rio previously served as commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission.
After he submitted his resignation in February, Rio said in a phone interview that it was better to leave than to continuously get into arguments with the new appointees of DICT chief Gregorio Honasan 2nd.
Rio also was not happy about being shut out from key department discussions despite his being the head of operations.
“I could not work well with people brought by Honasan ... I’m supposed to be involved since I am the undersecretary, but I’m not involved in any decision process,” he told The ManilaTimes.
Roque also followed up on the controversial claim of Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd that the country was now in the grip of second Covid-19 wave.
The spokesman said Duque should be allowed to perform his job, as the government needs him in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan group demanded Duque’s resignation after he made the claim during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
“Secretary Duque will answer allegations in the proper forum, but for now let us allow him to do his job during this global health emergency,” Roque said.
Duque was backed up by Dr. John Wong, an epidemiology expert who is also part of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Wong said the second wave of Covid- 19 infections peaked at the end of March.
Several Cabinet members raised a howl, prompting to Roque to say that Duque was merely expressing his opinion.
On Thursday, Duque himself backtracked, saying the Philippines was still in its “first major wave of sustained transmission.”
Last month, several senators also called for Duque’s resignation, accusing him of failure of leadership in handling the pandemic.
Duque resisted calls to quit, while Malacañang said Duterte wanted Duque to stay on.
The Palace has said Duque’s no- nonsense approach to the Covid- 19 response was “what the President appreciates.”
To date, there are 12,434 Covid cases nationwide, with 3,000 recoveries and a death toll of 846.